Texas in Winter

This winter has been one of the coldest in the last several years, but every now and then the sun comes out and the wind is calm and I have a chance to paint.  These paintings were done close to home.  The first one, Benson Crossing, is one of the many crossings along the north fork of the Guadalupe River near Hunt, TX. 

The second painting was painted in Comfort, TX.  The hill country is full of old barns and houses built by the German settlers in the late 1800's.  Every barn has a weathered dignity and makes you wonder what stories they could tell. My plein air studies are about light and shadow.

Rockport Palms

This is a painting I did from a study on location and a photo reference.  When I completed the study I discovered that I should have used a different format because I ended up shortening the length of the palms to compensate for the size of the panel.  In addition the study was started when the light was overcast and at the end of the painting session the sun came out and there was a beautiful warm glow on the branches.

Fulton - Rockport, TX

I spent the holidays painting on the Texas Coast.  The Fulton Rockport area is really on the Aransas Bay, which is protected by an island which parallels the coast.  It is a birders paradise as the migrating birds such as pelicans and herons spend the winter there. Somehow I had images of balmy sunny weather, but most of the time it was cloudy and windy.  However we had a great time and I was able to paint a different venue from what I normally paint.  I think I just scratched the surface of  the subjects that were available so I definitely want to do more exploration in the future. 
While I was painting, I was also thinking about my goals for 2014.  I will address that in a future blog.

Pelicans

Fulton Harbor 1

Goose Island

Fulton Harbor 2

Ocean View Drive

Still Life Studies

It has been awhile since my last post.  I have been keeping busy doing still life studies.  That is mainly because it is either to cold to go outside or the mountain cedar pollen season here in Central Texas is rearing its ugly head.  I think still life is a great way to study color harmony, light, and just observation skills.  Of course some are more successful than others.  I love color and still life painting is a great way to get away with using luscious color.  The other aspect of doing these little paintings (8x8) is getting to try out different formats.  I have used the square format quite a bit in landscape painting and I'm also liking it in still life painting.  The hardest part about still life painting for me is deciding what to include in the painting to create an interesting arrangement of shapes that fill the canvas and are pleasing to the eye.  Another aspect about these setups was the subtle reflections in the surface.  Well maybe not so subtle in the apple set up.  I'm not sure it really qualifies as pleasing to the eye either, but I love red so it allows me the opportunity to play with it.

Asian Tranquility

Asian Box and Lily

Apple Trio

Asian Harmony

Fall Color

Cypress Parade - I think this is one of the prettiest fall seasons that I've experienced in Texas and I was able to get some plein air painting days in before the weather turned cold.  The Guadalupe River is ablaze with these cypress trees.  However, after the winter winds have had their way with them the leaves will be gone. 

The second painting is Autumn Cypress, which was also painted along the Guadalupe River in Center Point, TX.  Maybe the drought has stressed the trees to the point where they are answering back with the loveliest colors. 

Capitan Morning View

The Capitan Mountains in New Mexico are beautiful in morning light.  During the monsoon season the light has a warm glow where the sun coming up catches the wispy clouds.  By afternoon the clouds are huge thunderheads.

River Rocks

I love to study water flowing over river rocks.  When the water is clear you see so much color reflecting back the light of the sun.  And when there is more of a slope you see the water rushing down these miniature waterfalls and creating the white foam.  This is the Rio Ruidoso, just a mountain stream these days, but I've seen it when it was a raging torrent!

Clouds Building Up

In honor of Cloud Appreciation Day I decided to paint the clouds over the Sacramento Mountains in New Mexico.  We are in the midst of monsoon season and the clouds build up every day to real thunder heads.  The burn scars from last years fire are very visible against the green from all the rain.

Super Moon

I decided to do the supermoon again last night from a different location.  This is near a golf course overlooking the elementary school.  It is hard to predict where the moon is going to pop up so I picked a vantage point that had a wide view.  Also the moon came up later than the night before so could barely see my palette in the dark.

Late Evening Over the Sacramento Mountains

After doing my first Nocturne, I've been wanting to try it again. So went out last night to paint the super moon.  I wasn't sure we would even see the moon because of the clouds, but it did appear.  I've posted both paintings so you can see how much cloud cover there was.  (Note - I discovered that the lights used for the photos were too yellow, so I've replaced these photos with natural light.)

Gillespie County Fair

The Gillespie County Fair is one of the highlights in Fredericksburg, TX every summer. All the Future Farmers of America (FFA) members can compete in showing their goats, pigs, and cattle for prizes.  The judge gives a running commentary for each entry and it is always a relief when he has moved on to the next competitor.  They also hold quarter horse races at the fair and the winner gets to compete in the American Futurity in Ruidoso, NM on Labor Day.  I was looking at my photos recently and thought I would try to paint some of these events.  It has been hard to concentrate on painting with all the other things going on this summer, but every now and then I have been able to get a day in here and there.

Quarter Horse Race

FFA Goat Competition

Back to Basics

When I started painting a number of years ago, I always used to paint my cats.  I have been feeling stuck lately so I decided today to go back to basics and paint a cat.  I used to paint a cat every time I took an art class as a way to measure how much I had learned.  I've gotten away from that and also moved on to different subjects.  Maybe Jack here will help me find my way back.

New Mexico Hills is another painting from the PAPNM paint out in Santa Fe.  This was painted on location and is the view facing north to the Sangre de Christo mountains from the Santa Fe Opera.

Farmer's Market was painted on location at the Santa Fe Farmers Market during the PAPNM paint out.  This was my first attempt at painting people going about their selection activities.  Needless to say they are impressions.  It was quite the challenge.

Morning Grace is the chapel at Bishop's Lodge which was painted in Tusuque, NM during the 2013 PAPNM Annual Paintout in Santa Fe. 

Late Evening Glow is another painting from the PAPNM paint out in Santa Fe.  It is also available for sale at Gary Kim Gallery in Santa Fe through July 7th.  This painting was completed at a Bureau of Land Management open space near Placitas, NM.  What caught my eye was the rim lighting on the clouds and the back lit lights of the grass.

Well, it has been some time since I posted a painting.  This has been a busy summer with lots of unexpected events happening.  Santa Fe Morning was painted at the Plein Air Painters of New Mexico (PAPNM) paint out last week in Santa Fe.  The location is the Indian Arts and Cultural Center.  It is available for purchase at the Gary Kim Gallery until July 8.  The entire show can be seen online at www.papnm.org.

White Vase with fruit is another experiment with the new shadow box.  It is so much easier to see what you are painting, but my lighting is still too strong. You might need to wear sunglasses with the white vase.

Lemon and Cherries on Glassine is an experiment using my new shadow box.  I liked the abstract reflections in the surface. I need to experiment with lighting.  The shadow box makes it easier to control, but I need to investigate different lights.

River Rock and Reflections is "hot off the easel."  I have been traveling the last few weeks and just couldn't wait to get out and paint again.  This painting is of the Rio Ruidoso in Ruidoso, NM.  Because of the drought it looks more like a creek, but it is fun to look down into the water and see the bottom.  I know you probably won't believe me because I forgot to bring my camera, but there was a bull elk about 35 yards from me the entire time I was painting.  He was munching on the green grasses growing along the stream.  We had an unspoken understanding that I wouldn't bother him, if he didn't bother me!